Workers Sue FedEx, Allege Widespread Discrimination
Twenty-six current and former California employees of FedEx Corp. filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing the world’s largest express shipper of widespread discrimination against minorities and women.
The suit alleges that the Memphis, Tenn.-based company relegates most minorities to low-paying, casual and even dangerous jobs and undermines their efforts to advance. When employees complain, FedEx fails to take appropriate action and, in some cases, retaliates, according to the suit. It also charges FedEx with falsifying time cards and failing to pay overtime.
A FedEx spokeswoman said the claims appear to be without merit.
The 189-page suit was filed in state court in Oakland as a proposed class action on behalf of FedEx employees in California. Plaintiffs’ lawyers said that if they develop evidence that the alleged misconduct is more widespread, they may move the case to federal court and seek to represent the company’s minority employees nationwide.
Of FedEx’s 117,000 U.S. employees, about 15,000 work in California.
FedEx’s management is known in the Bay Area, where several of the plaintiffs have worked, as the “ole boys network” and the “country club,” the suit says.
“The evidence shows FedEx treats its employees as if the civil rights movement never happened,” said Waukeen Q. McCoy, a San Francisco lawyer representing the plaintiffs. “Our intention is to send an unequivocal message to corporate America that discrimination will not be tolerated ever.”
FedEx spokeswoman Traci Barnett said: “Many of the employees involved enjoyed promotions and other opportunities, so that is really inconsistent with their claims. FedEx will vigorously defend the lawsuit. We take allegations of discrimination very seriously, and we will not tolerate discrimination of any kind in the workplace.”
Minorities constitute more than 40% of FedEx’s workforce and almost a third of all managers, she said. For the last few years, Fortune magazine has listed FedEx among the 50 best companies for minorities and among the 100 best companies to work for in America.
“We have a number of highly effective procedures that have been recognized nationally to address employees’ concerns,” Barnett said.
But Michael Davis, another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said many workers avoid making complaints through the company’s computerized internal grievance system because it often forces them to go to the supervisors they believe are causing their problems. “It doesn’t quite work the way FedEx says it does,” Davis maintained. “You file a complaint, and tomorrow your job is harder.”
Derrick Satchell, a former operations manager in San Jose, said he was fired following 10 years of service after trying to blow the whistle on alleged discrimination. “It was just swept under the rug,” he said. “When we tried to make changes, we were stifled. They were starting files on us that were not accurate. They were false and caused us to be driven out.”
LaSonia Walker, a 10-year veteran of the company’s Oakland hub, blames discrimination for missed raises and lost promotions. She said she joined the suit because internal complaints went nowhere. “We have what you call purple blood,” Walker said, referring to the company’s signature color. “We love the company. We weren’t looking to sue the company. I thought I’d be here another 10, 15 years and retire. That’s not going to happen now.”
The plaintiffs and their lawyers said they hoped the suit would force the company to make changes, including the establishment of new procedures for awarding promotions. Several plaintiffs kept diaries, jotting down each incident of perceived discrimination the day it happened, creating what one of the lawyers described as a damning body of evidence.
The FedEx case is the latest in a series of large-scale employment discrimination suits against Fortune 500 companies. Eighteen months ago, six California women filed a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., accusing the company of widespread sexual discrimination. The suit, which is pending in federal court in San Francisco, seeks to represent all female workers at Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer.
Several companies have settled similar employment discrimination suits. Coca-Cola Co. set a record two years ago by settling a racial discrimination case for $192.5 million, and Texaco Inc. agreed to pay $176 million in 1996 to dispose of a similar case.
